In both of Euripides’s plays Medea written in 431 BCE and Hecuba written in 420 BCE. shows the extent that a person would go to get revenge yet, both women had distinct reasons behind it. This paper will examine their reasons and beliefs that overall lead the two women to act against the people who hurt them. At the same time showing the differences between the two character’s crimes as well as their similarities. Therefore, examining what might be the significance behind their acts, did their perpetrators deserve it. Did these vengeful acts have a deeper meaning that Euripides was trying to prove to justify these women’s acts? Another factor is the societies these women lived in which happen to be controlled by men. The crimes that were …show more content…
Hecuba’s story of revenge begins when she becomes a slave after losing her kingdom, Husband and Son during the Trojan war. Hecuba’s grief didn’t stop at the loss of her son. Hecuba after becoming a slave to the Greeks received news that as a request to “Achilles’ demands are just. By majority vote, they have sentenced your Polyxena to death. A sacrifice to Achilles’ honor.” (Hecuba 130-133) However, as Hecuba griefs the death of her daughter Polyxena, she is overwhelmed when she finds out her youngest son Polydorus was killed for his gold by someone she trusted. “...Took up his dagger. He cast my body into the sea. For gold he did this;” Therefore, giving Hecuba a reason to seek Revenge. She uses the help of other Greek slaves to carry out her plan to make Polymestor pay. In front of Polymestor Hecuba kills both his child and leaves him blind so he can always remember seeing his children die.
Revenge is always hard to find when it comes to getting justice for a loved one but when people choose to take upon their selves to seek it, would it be considered a crime or a justifiable act. “We will see that people were pretty good at making trade-offs, at weighing and balancing harms, pains, suffering, benefits, favors, and human worth, at measuring eyes and teeth, arms and legs, this person’s life against that person’s. Although paying back, getting even, and revenge are often the
Ancient expectations for women include always putting the responsibilities of being a mother above all else, as shown in Euripides’ Medea and Aeschylus’ Agamemnon, as well as Euripides’ Iphigenia at Aulis. Both Clytemnestra and Medea exhibit motherly love and tend to those responsibilities, but commit atrocious, unladylike acts, which jeopardize the sympathy felt for them by an audience. The respective playwrights of each story use their character’s motivations and how they align with their roles as mothers first and women second to ultimately characterize each in either a negative or positive light. The motherly motivation that Clytemnestra and Medea exhibit excuses their vengeful and deceitful actions, however Medea’s final action,
The female characters portrayed in Aeschylus and Sophocles’ works have considerably different personalities and roles, yet those females all have the common weaknesses of being short-sighted and stubborn. They intensify the conflicts within their families while being inconsiderate of the impacts that they may bring to their nations and societies, which leads to consequences that they are incapable of taking responsibilities for. Clytemnestra and Antigone, two major characters in their respective author’s works, possess different motivations for their deeds in the stories. While Clytemnestra is driven by the desire of revenge to murder her husband Agamemnon, Antigone acts against Creon’s will and strives to properly bury her brother. Despite having different motivations and personalities, Clytemnestra and Antigone both commit
The word revenge is heard all over the news today. The news shows how people are trying to get revenge such as terrorist groups or individuals harming each other. However, even though the use of the word is frequent, not everyone has a clear understanding of what revenge clearly means. Revenge is defined as someone taking action to harm someone who has done something wrong to that certain person. Bryce Nelson the author of Revenge: Sweet, Universal and Self-Destructive: [Home Edition] stated: “As the victim contemplates revenge, he hopes desperately to overcome his feelings of impotence and to regain his former sense of self-worth” (Nelson 1). This article demonstrated how revenge was human nature by showing an example of someone getting revenge. The examples are demonstrated in definitions, characteristics, stories, and real-life events.
Have you ever acted out in retribution for something done to you? Some examples could be if you punched someone for intentionally kicking you, or if someone deliberately hurt the feelings of someone you love and you retaliated in kind. You probably thought the punishment you received for your actions was too harsh or lenient. Many factors went into the decision of what discipline you received for this act and some were fair while others probably were not. This is true for the actions of many people in Aeschylus’s Oresteia. In each of the three plays, someone is seeking vengeance for a wrong done unto them, someone they know/love, or both. For this paper, I will be focusing on the vengeance enacted by Clytemnestra, Orestes, and the Fates. The vengeance that each person enacted was deemed just or unjust depending on many factors including the people who were doing the judging. Vengeance in Aeschylus’s Oresteia is viewed through the social lens of the society that it was enacted in. This lens is made up of the popular values, beliefs, and social conventions of the period as well as the judge’s personal views and/or experiences. These factors (such as gender and relation to the victim, as well as the presence or absence of transgressions on the characters part) lead to different opinions about the guilt of the accused individual and the individual themselves. The view of vengeance in Aeschylus’s Oresteia is very subjective.
Revenge is a kind of wild justice. Throughout many texts, the notion of justice has been debated on whether it is an act that vindicates those who have been wronged or an excuse to pursue revenge. Through Medea, Medea’s actions have been judged and criticised whether her murders are an act of justice that she deserves or simply the idea of inflicting pain on those she loathes.
Retribution is a monster of appetite, eternally bloodthirsty and never filled. Rage, resentment and envy does not change the heart of others. A massive success is the best revenge for a woman. It is the only way to get back at someone for a pain they have caused. In Euripides’ Medea and Ovid’s’ Metamorphoses, Medea and Juno exhibit vengeance to defend their dignity.
Commonly considered one of Euripides greatest pieces, Medea is an insightful depiction of how a woman’s love for her husband, churns into a gruesome revenge scheme against him. This tragedy illustrates a tale of a woman who challenges Greek societal norms. In the era that the story takes place; women are often seen in submissive roles. However, the play’s main character, Medea, challenges their customs through her actions against the Kingdom of Corinth and Jason.
The purpose of the paper is to compare and contrast the characters of Penelope in the epic, The Odyssey, Lysistrata in the comedy, Lysistrata, and Medea in the tragedy, Medea. The writer will first give a brief synopsis of each character, followed by a comparison and climaxing with the contrast.
Euripides and Sophocles wrote powerful tragedies that remain influential to this day. The vast majority of work recovered from this time is by male authorship. What remains about women of this time is written through the lens of male authors’ perspective and beliefs about the role of women in Greek culture. The works of these two playwrights frequently characterize women as unstable and dangerous. Agave, Antigone, and Medea are all undoubtedly the driving force behind the tragic action in these plays. It is their choices that lead to the pain and death of the people around them. Through an examination of the evidence from three separate works, Antigone, The Bacchae, and The Medea, the role of women in ancient Greek tragedy becomes clear. The actions of Agave, Antigone, and Medea repeatedly prove their characters instability and danger.
For the women in ancient Greece, justice was far from reach. In the Greek society, men were allowed to abandon their wives in order to marry younger ones and Medea was not invulnerable to this fate. Despite all of her devoutness to her husband, he relinquished her for someone new. “Oh how unhappy I am, how wretched my sufferings. Oh woe is me. I wish I could die”, Medea cried out at the horrendous news (page 3, line 9). Euripides created a tragedy that many women during the ancient Greek time could relate to.
Amongst Euripides' most famous plays, Medea went against the audience's expectations at his time. Indeed, the main character of the play is Medea, a strong independent female who neglected moral and . She was therefore in all ways different to how women were perceived in Ancient Greece. This essay will explore how Euripides' controversial characters demonstrate that his views were ahead of his time.
The poetic tone of Aristophanes' Lysistrata differs greatly from the poetic tone of the Greek tragedies we have read in class. However, after analyzing this Greek comedy, it seems to share some of the main characteristics of Euripides' Medea. Within these plays, we meet shrewd, powerful masculine women who use the art of manipulation to get what they want from others and to accomplish their goals. This theme of manipulation is employed through various means and techniques. The women of these plays also seem to contradict the stereotypical woman and have characteristics similar to the Homeric Greek warrior.
Women’s rights movements have made incredible progress in recent times. Although there are many countries around the world where women are facing political and social unjustness, the social class of women in ancient Greece of 5th century BCE was solely grounded by patriarchal ideologies. The Greek playwright Euripides creates a persistent character Medea, in his classic tragedy Medea. Today, scholars study this relentless protagonist who has become an eternal and timeless symbol of femininity and womenfolk revolt. Whilst many themes such as passion, vengeance, and exile are present within Euripides’ Medea, the theme of women and femininity is critically manifested throughout the interactions of its central
As the famous Greek playwright Euripides once said: “Stronger than lover's love is lover's hate. Incurable, in each, the wounds they make.” Such ideas are portrayed in one of him most famous plays, Medea. This play is a fascinating classic centered on the Greek goddess Medea. Despite its recent fame, during his time, Euripides was unpopular since he used what would be considered a ‘modern’ view where he would focus on women, slaves and persons from the lower classes. In the play, Medea commits filicide, which initially appears extremely horrendous, but as the audience is guided through the play, they develop sympathy towards Medea. In order to achieve this empathy and enhance the understanding of Medea’s pride and ideals, Euripides
When Medea kills her children, audiences react with shock and horror. Any sympathy viewers have built for the woman is, in the words of Elizabeth Vandiver, “undercut” by this act (15). Since Medea is the protagonist, we question why Euripides chose to make her a child murderer. Most scholars agree that he invented this part of the myth. He also lessened her role as witch by drawing attention to her human qualities. This only highlights the infanticide (14) because we cannot excuse her ruthless act as monstrous and non-human. However, Medea remains very human until after she kills her sons. Appearing at the end of the play in the deus ex machina, she takes over not only the position but also the